Environmental and Occupational HealthEpidemiology and BiostatisticsExercise and Nutrition SciencesGlobal HealthHealth PolicyHealth Services Management and LeadershipPrevention and Community HealthUndergraduate Public Health

Nate Phelps is the son of Pastor Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church, which gained infamy from their protests at soldiers’ funerals around the United States. He is the sixth of thirteen children, and was taught his father’s extreme version of Calvinism from an early age. This was accompanied by extreme physical punishments and abuse, extreme dietary and health requirements, and other extreme expectations. Nate left home at midnight on his eighteenth birthday, and moved to California where he built a new life away from his family. He only recently began speaking out about his story. He is a vocal LGBT advocate, and speaks out against the dangers of religious freedom abuse and child abuse. He is currently working on a book which covers his exceptional story, and is the subject of an upcoming documentary film.